Never Too Late
by Sever-Black
Summary: This continues the story of IDGAF! Don't need to read the first story to get this one. "Now and again we try to just stay alive. Maybe we'll turn it around 'cause it's not too late. It's never too late!"
1. Five Years

**Now I know you all have probably been watching and reading anything you can on Mass Effect 3 like I have, so you probably know the basic set up for what will go down. The idea for my story came before any of the video's and articles about the third game so my story won't be following the little we know about the game, this is my own ideas and thoughts, though I sadly don't own the characters, only the ones you know aren't from the game. **

**With that said, I hope you enjoy this continuation of IDGAF. For those of you that read IDGAF, you have to read the last chapter I just posted before reading this. For those of you just jumping in to this story feel free to continue, you don't need to read the first part to get this story, though i urge you to read the first story.**

**Please enjoy =)**

Five. Five years since the Omega 4 Relay. Five years since the destruction of the Collector Base and the reaper fetus. Five years had gone by since Commander Selene Shepard brought back her entire crew from their supposed suicide mission. During those five years, plans were drawn up, allies were made, enemies were brought down and her small army grew to be one of the largest in the galaxy. If she wanted, Shepard could probably give the council fleet a run for their money.

Selene's allies stayed in their separate worlds, bases, where ever else they might come from, until the signal would be sent out. All the work they could do so far was done, some of it rising unwanted suspicion from council space, but Shepard had been able to handle it. Now, all they had to do is wait.

**On the Citadel . . . Element Zero **

"So Shepard, any word from Tali?" Garrus asked from beside her, as they slid into the booth across from Thane.

"I just talked to her last night. Velia is doing fine and will be getting her suit in two weeks." Selene smiled at the thought of finally being able to hug her best friend's daughter.

"Five years old already. Damn time flies. That kid was a handful while in the bubble, imagine her now!" Garrus gave out a loud laugh, Thane and Selene smiled at the obvious excitement their turian friend was feeling.

Thane turned his attention to the Commander, taking in her appearance. Her once short black hair was now down to the small of her back again, although, the single gray streak in the front of her hair showed how much stress she was going through. Her light brown skin was as smooth as ever, the small splatter of freckles across her nose only able to be seen if you were looking long enough. Her silver green eyes looked at him through long lashes, a thick curved black eyebrow arched at him as her full light pink lips crooked a smile at his stare.

"You look well Selene." Thane's calming, voice spoke to her. The dark black circles around her eyes were finally clearing and her skin no longer had an unhealthy, bleached out look to it. However, she still looked far too thin, but Garrus and Grunt living with her for the last seven months seemed like it had done her good. Thane was pleased; he had started to run out of ideas to get the woman to take care of herself properly. She would constantly tell him she was fine, just busy with overseeing the finial construction plans for the last few safe houses and starting on the fifth and final part of one of the massive dreadnought.

The drell knew that she was only half telling the truth, the eyeliner stains from her crying had always been evident, even after her attempts of trying to wash away the evidence before he saw. He knew what kept her up at night, what caused her to cry herself to sleep in all hours of the early morning. It cut him deeply to think of her alone and so upset, he could only spend the night at her large apartment for so long, before returning to his own now shared apartment. Yes, the two old crew mates moving in with her had been a very good idea and she seemed to be returning to the same old Commander that she was a year ago, before everything started going wrong. Thane was praying that everything went well today and that he wouldn't be carried out of the restaurant in a stretcher.

Selene gave her friend a wide smile, "Yes. I finally got my tan back after visiting Wrex on Tuchanka. Grunt wanted to be there when little Aries got his first battle lesson. He's four now."

Thane gave a chuckle, remembering his first encounter with the large baby Krogen. Grunt's son had bitten Garrus when he saw him, which caused them all to laugh hysterically.

Garrus gave an irritated growl at the back of his throat, "I still have the scar from that little bundle of joy." Garrus' eyes shifted to the clock over the door, meeting Thane's eyes when he returned his gaze to the Commander and him. Selene thankfully didn't seem to notice, her head looking down at her menu.

"What are you two waiting for?" Came her calm voice, not even rising her head from the holo menu.

_Ok, apparently she had, _Garrus thought, trying to come up with a quick cover up.

Garrus and Thane looked to one another, worry in both their eyes as they tried to telepathically send each other a good answer that would not raise suspicion.

"Thane has a date coming!" Garrus practically shouted.

"The waiter is taking too long." Thane answered at the same time, his voice at least the same calm tone it always was.

Shepard stared between the two men, she knew both all too well to be fooled by anything they would have come up with, but that had been pathetic on Garrus' part. Thane arched an eye ridge at the man, not knowing what to say to him for that outburst. Selene knew he had not looked at another woman since his wife's death, not for the Commander's lack of trying to set him up, which caused him much embarrassment. She was lucky he loved her like a daughter, or she would have had a bullet in her head from a sniper shot due to some of her attempts.

Selene tilted her head to the side, staring Thane down with her silver green eyes, with a look that caused most people to run in the opposite direction, "Now _papa. _Tell me the truth."

Thane glanced one more time at the clock, then at the door, hoping to be saved by their guest's entrance. _Damn you, why can't you ever be on time. _His large black eyes turned back to Selene, "Well, Garrus and I." The drell gave the turian a pointed look, letting it be known that if he was going down, he was dragging him along with him, "Thought we would invite another lunch guest. I was originally supposed to have lunch with them, but when I got your call I could not refuse you. Garrus and I thought it would be nice to simply combine the two lunches."

Garrus glared at Thane from across the table, he was sat on the inside so he had nowhere to run from the woman beside him.

Selene's face showed complete seriousness, she knew that Thane only met with one person for lunch and they both had better be praying to their gods that it wasn't who she thought it was. Selene's closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "Thane, who is it?"

Thane was willing those doors to open, but no such luck happened. He slowly turned his eyes to the Commander and answered, "It is who you know it to be Selene."

Garrus bowed his head, trying to disappear into the seat.

Selene's jaw clenched, her hands carving jagged scratches into the table. Her eyes snapped open, anger blazing in them. She fought with her feelings and forced herself to stand calmly from the booth, and without a word, left her two companions to stare at her back as she disappeared through the exit.

Standing tall next to the entrance, staring at the exit doors with an unreadable expression, was the person they had been waiting for. Both men gave each other defeated looks as Thane waved the guest over. The man's face now held a cocky smirk as he took the spot that had been previously occupied by Shepard.

The man spoke to them both in a deep gravelly voice that was trademark for his race, his voice thick with amusement "It seems my ex-wife has not forgotten me."

Thane took a deep breath before nodding to the now grown man before him, "Hello Kolyat."

**Bet you guys weren't expecting that. Please don't kill me people who read IDGAF, I do have a plan! **_**Please review and tell me what you thought.**_


	2. You Go Talk To Her

Kolyat half listened to the two men seated with him in the booth, a fake smile that he had mastered over the last few months was plastered across his face. The blue drell nodded when it was appropriate; however his thoughts were on the woman who had just walked out the exit ten minutes ago.

Kolyat hadn't seen Selene in person for seven months, their last encounter ended with him dodging throwing knives. He had been pissed when he saw three of the knives had gone through his brand new leather jacket. He had sent her the bill to fix his jacket, haven't expecting anything in return; sending it had just made him feel better in his own twisted way. He had been surprised to see it returned back to him, any acknowledgment towards something he had contact with was shocking from her. He had opened the case to find his bill inside, a bullet hole shot right through the middle. Kolyat had stared at the broken screen and wires for a few minutes, before breaking down in a fit of laughter, which grew more hysterical until slowly it turned into soft crying, then full blown weeping.

His father had come back to their shared apartment to find the broken man sitting on the kitchen floor, a pistol in one hand and an almost empty bottle of alcohol in the other. Thane had been scared that Kolyat was going to do something stupid and quickly snatched the gun from the drunken man; not very hard for an assassin. However, getting the bottle of alcohol away from the younger drell had been more of a challenge. Kolyat had clutched at the bottle as if it were his lifeline, cursing Thane in a drunken slur for trying to take it from him.

Kolyat had sobered up quickly after accidentally throwing his father through the glass panel that happened to be one of the walls to the kitchen. Kolyat had dropped the bottle immediately and rushed over to the already sitting drell; glass lay scattered around them. Thane was still as strong as ever and being thrown through a glass wall wouldn't take him down.

Thane had looked at his son with saddened eyes, but Kolyat saw no anger from being attacked in his them. Kolyat stared back at his father, a pathetic sight to behold. He had never felt so lost and disconnected as he was then and all he could do was wrap his arms around his father and break down in another set of tears.

Thane held his son, saying nothing, just giving the physical support Kolyat seemed to need. 'I'm sorry' was repeated many times and 'I don't know what to do anymore', but the one sentence that Thane remembered most being repeated, and what caused his heart to break even more for his son was, 'I still love her'.

Kolyat's eyes fluttered rapidly as he came back to the present, thankful he hadn't been so engrossed in the memory that he had fallen into solipsism and blurted out the incident. However, he had completely missed whatever had been said between the two men; both of whom were staring at him expectantly.

"I apologize, I spaced out there for a second. What did you say?" The younger man looked between his friend and his father apologetically.

Thane shook his head, his eyes shifting to the exit, knowing what had distracted Kolyat. Garrus followed Thane's eyes and let out a sigh of sympathy. He had never seen two people more meant for each other, yet so hell bent on never seeing each other again.

"What are you two going to do when the call comes in, huh? You haven't spoken in months and last time you almost killed each other. How are going to handle being under her command again? Shit, how is she going to handle being your Commander?" Garrus threw up his arms in a rage; the whole situation gave him a headache.

Kolyat smirked weakly at the turian, "Well technically, she will be more of an Admiral right. I mean she has a whole fleet now, not just one ship."

"Always with the jokes, do you ever take anything seriously? I swear it's like you sucked out all Selene's humor in the divorce and took it with you. She barely cracks any jokes now, it's all business with her." Garrus was glaring at the drell next to him. His statement wasn't completely true, she had become more serious as the work started getting harder for her, not right when they got divorced, but it had grown especially bad once the fighting with Kolyat had started. Now she wasn't even the same Selene he remembered; though, the months with Grunt and himself had seemed to bring back pieces of her former self.

Kolyat's face had hardened at the mention of the divorce, his eyes lowering to the blue marble table top. His fused finger traced the four scratch marks that had been carved into it. He knew Selene must have made those marks, her modified nails from the Lazarus Project made it so she could damn near cut through anything.

Thane's voice brought his son's attention back to them, "Kolyat, you know that it would be smarter to talk to her now, if only to bring attention to the subject of working together again. The estimated time is coming up. We probably only have a few more months, if that. At least speaking to one another won't leave the gap of contact so far between."

Kolyat snorted humorlessly, "Last time we "talked", she tried to nail me to the wall with her knives. How am I even supposed to get near her?"

"To be fair you did call her, and I quote 'A crazy bitch, who could go fuck herself for all I care'. Then you punched her." Garrus smart ass comment was unappreciated by the drell.

"I punched the wall not her. And even if I did, she would have deserved it. Not like it would have hurt her, you remember the full contact sparing on the Normandy. Grunt had body slammed her and she still kicked his ass." Kolyat leaned his elbows on the counter moodily, staring out at all the happy occupants of the restaurant.

"Oh? Then why did she have a bruise on the side of her cheek when I came to visit her?" Garrus challenged.

Kolyat grumbled under his breath something about throwing a punch _after _she had tried to kill him with the knives.

Thane gave his son a disapproving glare, not having been privy to this information before.

Kolyat just ignored him and turned his attention on to Garrus, "_Anyways, _I think both of us will be able to handle working together when the time comes. I'm not risking injury again by going and talking to her. Bailey just stopped giving me weary looks like I'm going to kill myself. If she has a problem with it she will have to either suck it up or put me on a different ship."

"And I wonder why Bailey has been giving you those looks? Maybe it's because you almost drank yourself to death _three _times and almost got yourself killed on the job. I would have fired your dumb ass." Garrus knew he was being a little harsh, but he was past babying the guy, he had just finally started to man up and take on some responsibility in his life again.

"Thank you Garrus. Your ability for summary is truly magical." Kolyat's sarcasm earned him a slap on the shoulder from the big turian.

"I do it because I care." Garrus answered.

Kolyat patted his clawed hand and nodded, "I know, thank you. You really have been my best friend in all this, besides my dad of course."

Thane just shook his head, upset that he had to go through any of this at all. "You're wrong you know. You need to talk to her before the call, bring her attention to the matter."

Kolyat looked between the two men, his eyes narrowed, an amused look on his face, "And why haven't you two brought our fearless leader's attention to the matter, huh?"

Thane and Garrus looked at one another, and then back to Kolyat, "Do you think we're stupid?" They spoke simultaneously.

Kolyat gave out a genuine laugh. Even before the divorce and their relationship started, his wife had been a scary woman to come to with certain matter. No one knew what could set her off. Of course, no one would fear for their lives, but they definitely feared being shot at or stabbed. _My wife is a crazy bitch, _Kolyat thought with dark humor and somewhat fondly. His smile turned to a frown at his own words, _not my wife, ex-wife, who just so happens to be my Commander, great._

Kolyat stood from the booth slowly, facing the two seated men in the booth, "Alright, I'll go speak with her. But if I end up getting hurt, you two assholes are paying my medical bill." And with those parting words, Kolyat was gone.

"Do you think he will even get through the door?" Garrus asked Thane, picking up their forgotten menus, passing one to his companion.

"I fear he might not even make it to the door." Thane answered, watching his son pass by the window, before turning his eyes on his menu. The Gods be with his son.


	3. Head Out

Kolyat stared at the door in front of him, his eyes fixed on the number, 1031. He remembered them laughing about the apartment number, it was their anniversary date. He wondered if she even remembered that or if she felt anything towards it.

Kolyat shook his head, not allowing his thoughts to wonder down that particular road. He had come here to talk to her, he still didn't know what he was going to say, but he knew there had to be some kind of discussion before they got the call.

The blue drell reached out an arm and knocked on the door. After a few minutes of no answer, he knocked again. Still no answer. Kolyat tried one more time, practically banging on it with his fist. He wasn't sure if he was being ignored or if she really couldn't hear him. He knew she was here, the salarian at the front desk said she went up a half an hour ago and wasn't seen coming down. If she knew he was out here she would have told him to get lost, most likely at gun point, so the only option was that she couldn't hear the knock.

Kolyat looked side to side down the hall, making sure no one was there. The hallway seemed empty so he took out his omini tool, ready to bring down the locks on the door, only to find it was unlocked.

"What the hell, is she stupid?" Kolyat whispered under his breath. Out of all the people on the station, she should probably be the last one leaving her door unlocked.

Kolyat opened the door and stepped into the apartment. The once familiar area was now completely redecorated, everything they had bought together was now gone, replaced with her own personal style. The room was made up of blacks, grays and purples. A few of Garrus' stuff was spread around the area, his sniper hung on a rack above the couch. Kolyat walked further into the place, noticing a line of different photos, all the faces were ones he recognized. Tali, Jack, Grunt, Wrex, Mordin, Garrus, Zaeed, Joker, Samara, Miranda, Jacob, Anderson, his dad, her aunt and various other crew members from the Normandy like Gardner and Chakwas. At the end, there was a picture of Selene, smiling alongside Liara, both women wore asari dresses. Selene's was a deep blue with silver trim, she always looked amazing in blue.

Kolyat felt his lips turn up at the corners, his thumb rubbing over the smile across her face. He set the frame down after a couple minutes of staring at it, and picked up the one next to it. This one made his blood boil, his face contorting into a scowl. The picture was of Selene with another drell, his arm around her shoulder as they stood on the planes of Tuchanka. _Feron, _Kolyat thought murderously.

Without any care for her belongings, Kolyat tossed the frame over his shoulder, hearing the thing break brought a satisfied grin to his face. _Oops. _

Kolyat moved towards the master bedroom, making sure to step on the frame as he passed. He slid the sliding door open and looked around. No one was there. Kolyat was confused now, _where the hell is she? _As if on cue, the door behind him slid open and without thinking, he grabbed his pistol on his hip and spun around, pointing it at whoever was behind him.

Selene's eyes didn't have time to take in _who _was standing in the middle of her room, she reacted automatically, grabbing the gun strapped to her thigh and aimed. Both parties had their pistols pointed at the other, both realizing who they were pointing them at, at the same time.

Selene gritted her teeth, her temper flaring at the very sight of her ex-husband, "What the fuck are you doing in my apartment! _Dejas ahora!" _

_Here comes the Spanish, _Kolyat just gave her a smirk, "Actually, I still own part of this apartment. We never settled on what was the others and who got what."

Selene growled in the back of her throat and lowered her weapon, strapping it to her thigh, "How did you get in here and why are you here?"

Kolyat holstered his pistol and folded his hands behind his back, "You left the door unlocked. You know you shouldn't do that, you're probably the most wanted women on the criminal hit list here."

Selene scoffed at his comment, "If they want me dead they can come find me."

Kolyat twitched on the inside at her comment, but said nothing. Selene was staring at him with cold eyes. It was hard to believe that they had made love in this very room less than a year ago. _How long has it been, eight months officially? _

"Why are you here?" Her accent was thick, a sure sign that she was pissed. _Good. _

Kolyat gave her a smirk, "Why do you think?"

Selene cursed to herself, "I am going to kill those two. _Están muertos!" _

Kolyat crossed his arms over his chest, enjoying her anger, "Yeah well you will probably have to find them first. They were afraid to come to you with this themselves, so they thought they would come to me and get me to talk to you. If they are smart, they will be hiding out for a few days."

Selene was annoyed with his casual stance in _her _room. She had walked out of the restaurant for this very reason, to not have to see his face. Whenever they got around each other, which the last time was seven months ago, they got violent. She had wanted to shoot at him until he ran from the apartment, but living with Garrus and Grunt, and slowly coming back to the person she once was, had done her good. Selene still had difficulty with the divorce, but she knew the Reapers were still coming and she would not stop the work she had put five years into because of her troubles.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?" She was proud of herself, her voice was calm and she hadn't shot him…yet.

Kolyat's smirk fell and he grew serious, his eyes looked to the ground and back at hers. Actually, this was the first time he looked into her eyes, he had been staring beside her face or at her forehead, he didn't want to look in her silver green eyes; the same eyes that he would never be able to erase from his memory.

"Selene." She had visibly flinched when he spoke her name, he didn't know how he should feel about that. Kolyat continued, "We both know the Reapers are coming, and they are coming soon. That means…" Kolyat paused again, this was turning out to be harder to say then he thought.

Selene's eyes were trained on his face, specifically they were fixed on the deep scar that ran through his left eye. He would forever have that scar, and it was all because of her, or at least that's what he had screamed at her. She was listening to his every word, his deep, gravelly voice was so familiar and so foreign at the same time. When he paused again she lifted her eyes from the scar and looked into his deep black ones.

Kolyat stared at her for a few seconds, the air between them tense. He breathed through his nose in order to clear his head and kept on going, "That means we will have to work together soon. This is the first time we have seen each other in seven month. Did you think that going back under your command would be so easy after all that time?"

Selene's eyes narrowed at that, "Don't act like you tried to come around here in those seven months. We both have avoided each other Kolyat."

_Gods she said my name. _Kolyat closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping his emotions in check. Selene's temper had flared back up and he had to tread carefully.

"Alright, but I'm here now and we need to talk about how this is going to happen," He stared her down from across the room, waiting for her to make the next move.

Selene's jaw was set in a stubborn look, trying to keep her temper in check as she answered, "We are going to proceed like we all planned. You will be the second head pilot on the Normandy along with Joker. We will work together in a professional manner and you will be part of my team." Selene's hard gaze faltered and her eyes shifted to the side uncomfortably. "Of course, you're under no obligation." Her back straightened and her arms crossed over her chest, "You can walk away from all this."

That statement had a slight double meaning for Kolyat. If he walked away from the mission he wasn't just walking out on his team and on the war against the Reapers, but he was walking away from Selene, forever. There was no illusion in his mind that they would ever work things out after the divorce, but if he left now there would never be any chance of even talking to her. At least he had been able to come here and not have his head blown off. If he left now, he would be cut off from her and the family that had been developed on the Normandy. He wasn't willing to let go of his family, not ever, and he especially wasn't abandoning his promise to serve in the war.

Kolyat stepped closer to Selene until he was a foot away from her, his voice was low and had an edge to it, "If you think I would pull out of this mission now, you must have never really known me at all."

Selene actually had the good grace to look ashamed, her hand absentmindedly rubbing her shoulder as she lowered her eyes to the ground. She refused to speak and apologies however, she was too stubborn to say she was sorry to him.

"Fine. We have talked. Now leave." Her eyes rose from the ground and stared right at him, her stoic face gave nothing away.

Kolyat's eyes looked the woman up and down. He remembered she had cut her hair right after they had decided to get a divorce, it had looked like she took it from her pony tail and just sliced through it with a knife. It now reached her waist again, as soft looking as ever, the only change was the gray streak down the front; a sign of the stress she was under. Her face was still wrinkle free, but took on an older appearance somehow. She looked like she weighed twenty pounds less than the last time he saw her, and she had been losing weight back then as well. She still had a great figure, but her arms and stomach seemed so much thinner, her collar bone was far more prominent than it had ever had been. The subtle signs of dark circles around her eyes were evident and there were barely visible lines running down her face, almost like she had been crying. Kolyat's hand twitch at his side, wanting to reach out and touch her cheek. He hadn't touched her in eight months.

Selene's lips parted slightly, only able to stare up at Kolyat as he stared back. He seemed to be taking her appearance in, so she did the same. He looked exactly like she remembered, the same dark blue scales, fading into teal and decorated with black drell markings. His blue C-sec uniform fit his body snuggly and showed off all the well-defined, slightly larger, muscles. His once gold necklace was gone, something Selene didn't dwell on long. She skipped over the long scar through his eye and focused on the strong, hardened look he had to his face. Drell scales lightened or darkened with age and stress, much like human skin wrinkled, but there were no signs of aging on the twenty-six year old drell, but he was no longer the young rookie solider, but an experienced fighter and C-sec officer.

Selene noticed Kolyat's hand twitch at his side and her eyes flicked to the large scaled hand. It looked like he had wanted to touch her and she didn't know how she felt about that. He was pretty close to her and she could smell his familiar sent and she had to admit, he was as handsome as ever and he was in the best shape she had ever seen him in. Her own hand was itching to touch him, if only to feel his scales.

Both the soldiers practically jumped apart at the sound of a loud alarm sounding in the other room. They glanced at each other then back to the open door, before rushing out to the living room. Their eyes rested on a terminal against the opposite wall; they both knew what that terminal was for.

Selene marched over to the holo screen and looked down, reading the short message, then turned the alarm off. Her face turned towards Kolyat behind her, both their faces shared the same serious look; understanding in both their eyes.

Without taking her eyes off Kolyat, Selene reached up to her comm, thankful she had it on her, and opened it up to her privet channel, "Everyone one get to the Shuttle Bay. Get to the Normandy as fast as you can. Our time is up, time to head out."


	4. Leave It All Behind

**Ok I just have to say right now, I probably have the best readers ever and I love you guys so much, you really make my day with your reviews!**

**NothingIsTrue, ****I thank you so much for your review it really almost made me cry and after reading it I immediately jumped up and got to work on this chapter. I really am blown away at how much you enjoy my stories, and I really appreciate your kind words.**

**Aya001****, I think I was having too much fun messing with you the day I posted the three chapters and I apologies for that =). I loved your reviews though and thank you for them and glad you like the story so far. **

**I really enjoyed all the WTFs I got and the shock from everyone, it's what I was going for. I promise Kolyat and Shepard making up, and yes they will be making up I already have it written out, wont be left for the final chapter, there will be many, many chapters after them getting back together. **

**This chapter is short and I'm sorry about that but there is just so much to do for this story and I really want to get out chapters for you to read and not leave you waiting. This chapter will be speaking about Grunt a lot at one point and catch you up to what his life has been like for the five years. Also, a new adult character will just be mentioned, lets see if you catch it because you will be hearing about him in the next chapter. **

**Big thank you as always to my wonderful beta ****voltagelisa****, you all need to read all her stories they are amazing!**

**Also, you all need to read Eros Tanatos by ****Katarisha****, she is a great writer with a great story! Thank you Katarisha for your many reviews for both the stories. **

**Enjoy the chapter everyone =)**

Kolyat turned back into the bedroom and headed for the walk-in-closet to the right. Selene followed, confused at where he was going. As she entered the bedroom, she caught a glimpse of his very tall frame entering the closet, moving to the right. The Commander followed, peering around the corner to see him searching for something on the wall.

"What are you doing?" Her voice reached him. He turned his attention towards her as he continued searching on the wall.

"I'm looking for the damn switch. I had it marked, but apparently someone just _had _to paint the walls. Ah. Got it." Kolyat's hands had been feeling along one section of the wall, his perfect memory allowed him to know the general area, but the all black wall had screwed up his memories.

A holo interface appeared on the wall as he typed in his password, activating the sliding wall. Behind it was a large cut out, just big enough to fit a full grown person comfortably. However, the space was lined with different guns, ammo and two full duffle bags.

Selene's eyes took in the hidden space. In the five years she had been living there she had never known that he had had this. "What? Why have I never known about this?"

"I had this installed about three years ago. Just a safety precaution, to hide a stash of guns and ammo if we needed it…. Or hide someone." The last part was added as an afterthought and Selene barely caught it.

The space was only so big, but she could see that Kolyat himself would be able to fit, maybe even both of them if they squeezed. The realization that the area was probably a hiding spot, if they ever did need one, slowly dawned on her. _He was insuring our safety, my safety, _Selene thought.

She shook her head, pushing back her thoughts as she marched over to him, "What are these bags filled with?"

"On the run supplies. A week's worth of cloths and enough first aid to start a mini medical center." Kolyat recited, looping the straps of an assault rifle and sniper across his chest. "I never got the chance to collect all this and I haven't needed an assault rifle in four years or armored leathers, so this is what I'm bringing with me. My dad will have the rest of my stuff." Kolyat explained.

He stood from the spot, picking up a smaller shoulder bag to the left and turned to Selene. "Well, get your stuff. Jokers is probably already waiting for us." He reminded her.

Selene nodded and rushed out of the closet, reaching under her bed for her own pre-made bags. Her upgraded sniper was slung across her back, along with an assault rifle. Kolyat followed her path out of the room and watched as she dropped all the picture frames quickly into one of her open bags. Her silver green eyes looked down in confusion at the broken frame at her feet.

Selene bent down to pick up the crushed frame, the place that should have held a picture was completely blank, the buttons on the side refused to work. "What the fuck?" She whispered under her breath. As her mind went over what the picture had been, she began to realize what might have happened. The Commander stood and turned narrowed eyes on to Kolyat, who was looking anywhere but at her. "You're paying for this, I hope you know that." She threw the frame at his chest, watching him catch it at the last minute.

"Like you paid for my jacket? Which by the way still has those lovely holes that you put through it." Kolyat gave her a mocking smile, dropping the frame at his feet as he moved towards the door, stepping on it once again. Selene's right hand flexed at her side, itching to knock him on his ass.

"_Vete a la chingada." _Selene growled through her teeth, watching as he moved up the two steps and to the kitchen.

The insult in her native language was not lost on Kolyat. Usually humans would lose their language if they didn't use it regularly, drell didn't have this problem, and after a year of separation, Kolyat could still understand when she was telling him to go fuck himself.

The blue drell gave her a taunting grin as he eyed the almost completely black kitchen, "Well, I see you decided to redecorate the whole apartment."

Selene crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back on her leg as she glared at him, "Yes, I did. You don't live here and this is my apartment."

"The colors suit you." Kolyat gave her an approving look that through Selene off. "They match the color of your soul." The taunting smile was back as Kolyat crossed his own arms smugly, jerking his head to the kitchen as he leaned against the kitchen's archway frame.

Selene's face drew in anger as she gave him a dirty look, but relaxed quickly into a calm, stoic look as she spoke. "So how is life as the welcome committee?" Selene arched a black eyebrow as she returned fire with her own spiteful question.

Kolyat's smirk only grew as he pushed off the wall and walked down the steps, stopping close to Selene as he gave her a grin she use to find charming. "You've been checking up on me Selene?"

It was true, Kolyat had been reassigned to docking bay security, were his job was to either check on people coming and go from the Citadel or perform scans. If he did find something suspicious or had a problem, he wasn't even permitted to handle it himself, he had to direct the person to his superior. Kolyat had been hit with a lot of red tape since his accident and he was lucky he hadn't been fired or had his pay cut.

"You have to care to make the effort to check on someone." Selene responded in a chillingly calm voice. Her silver green eyes were slits as she looked up at him, but shone as bright as ever, her long black hair fell around her strong, stubborn face, the bit of gray strands fell into her eyes.

"You tell me." Kolyat leaned his head closer, his deep voice sent familiar vibrations through her, causing her to tighten her jaw in irritation. The smile on his face had been so cute and charming years ago, but the scar on his face and the darkness of his once caring eyes made him appear far more dangerous and menacing than ever before.

"Your father told me. He speaks about you sometimes to me, like I give a fuck." Selene hissed defensively, trying to ward him away from her.

"Then tell him to stop." Kolyat didn't back down as his bottomless black eyes stared almost through her.

"I can't. You and me may no longer be together, but I love your father and he is still my family and he loves you. I wouldn't hurt him by telling him to stop." Selene's arms had fallen to her side as her hand balled into fists and her calm face crumbled to anger as her brows knitted together and a firm frown spread cross her lips.

Kolyat's eyes searched her face as his grin slipped from his own lips and was now an emotionless line. He took a step back slowly, his game of provoking her for his amusement was over and now all that was left was the empty, cold, angry realization of how much had changed.

Selene's eyes slowly drew away from his as they looked away to the side, staring a hole through the dark purple wall. Kolyat's remained trained on hers, he looked like he was trying to solve the worlds hardest equation and was failing miserably; maybe he was.

The sound of the door opening and slamming against the wall actually caused Selene to jump and turn her startled eyes on the three men coming through it. Kolyat's ridged form didn't move and neither did his eyes as he stared at her intensely, the look on his face was unreadable as Selene caught his eye. It felt like a monumental feat to rip her gaze from his and turn it on Grunt, who was barreling his way down the entryway and down the short stairs to them.

"Battlemaster." The large, now adult Krogen opened his arms wide, embracing her in a bone crushing hug that Selene returned with as much enthusiasm as she could muster after the emotionally draining staring contest she had just had with Kolyat.

Grunt had changed from the young Krogen adult he had been five years ago. His head crest was now solidified and a silver gray color mixed with a highlight of orange and blue. Selene had been told by Wrex that the woman loved the boys coloring, even Krogen had a definition of what they thought was pretty. The scales on his arms were slowly knitting together to form barely visible octagon shapes and darkening even slower. Wrex had explained this was just a sign of ageing and Grunt would not grow into his scales fully for another forty to fifty years. The shaman had been shocked how fast Grunt had been growing in only six years, but it all gave him a superior edge over others, appearing older, yet young, giving him the right balance for his people right now. However, as strong and successful Grunt had been in battle and with the females, a clear difference had been noticed by the other Krogen his age and they had made the mistake of targeting him for a very brief period.

The hump on Grunts back had not grown in five years and in the Krogen culture, a large hump was a sign of a strong survivor and individuals were usually held in high esteem and given respect. Mordin had ran some tests on Grunt and learned that this was done on purpose by Okeer, to give Grunt a unique edge that a strong Krogen like himself wouldn't normally have, agility and smaller surface area to become a target.

Grunt was one of the strongest and deadliest soldiers Clan Urdnot had, if not in all the clans. Typically, Krogen like himself would have already developed a larger shoulder hump, but Grunts remained the same. During a tournament of sorts between the clans, a group of young Krogen had targeted Grunt, challenging and taunting him for what appeared to be a weakness. Grunt had been ready to rip the varren apart, but instead agreed to a test of his strength suggested by a female who he had become quite taken with, Naedia. The woman had convinced them to venture out into the wastelands of Tuchanka and test their survival skills for however long they could take it. Grunt had agreed and the group of five had left their separate ways, all carrying the guns they had with them and all the ammo they could hold, as well as a tracking devises that Naedia had presented to the clan shaman's and leader. She explained the challenge she had come up with, which impressed not only the men, but the women as well and had gained her a fair bit of respect and status of her own.

The five soldiers camped out in the dangerous lands of Tuchanka alone, pitting themselves against the harsh conditions and nature of the Krogen home world. All of them told similar stories of attacks from animals, the struggle to find or build shelter, and food and water. A young member of Clan Drau returned first after three weeks and two days, badly injured and dehydrated after two weeks with no water and running for his life. The second to come back was a member of Clan Ravanor after three weeks and four days, dragging a member of Clan Jorgal with him, both had been attacked by Thresher Maws while fighting with one another for camp territory. The member from Clan Jorgal had saved the other Krogen's life supposedly, so in return he had dragged him back to the camps. The last two were Grunt and a member of Clan Nakmor and after a month passed by, without any word or return of them, the other Krogen began to believe they had died and it was time to send out scouts to retrieve the bodies. After three more days of neither one moving on the tracking devise, an orange dot began to slowly move back towards the camps. The lone Krogen had taken a week to return, dropping to the ground with a thud and a cloud of dust surrounding him. The Krogen turned out to be the member of Clan Nakmor and was only babbling nonsense as he was taken to the medics. Turns out he had gone three weeks without food and water and was reaching his limit. Two lungs had collapsed and one heart had begun to fail so he had been lucky to make it back at all. The Krogen had been bitten and beaten severally by several different species of animals, the most noticeably was the varren bites and claw marks. Another two weeks passed with no movement from Grunt's location. No Krogen surviving longer than three weeks alone had never been heard of and all so far had made it longer than any Krogen ever reported, but Grunt, he was pushing what anyone could believe.

After another week, Wrex had decided on his own to call in Shepard from Kahje, she immediately called the Normandy and was at Tuchanka in four days. Selene had to be restrained by three male Krogen and Kolyat from marching past Wrex and venturing out into the wilderness alone to drag Grunt back alive or dead. She had screamed and kicked and cussed until her voice was hoarse, demanding to know why he hadn't been helped or who had come up with the stupid idea. Naedia had come forward with her head held high, but fear plain in her eyes as she stood before the respected and ruthless Commander. Selene was known for her ferocity during battle, but she was also known for losing it when anyone fucked with her family.

Naedia had confessed to planning the whole thing, but refused to believe Grunt was dead. "He is too strong!" She had said. "No one knows how strong he is!" Passion, devotion and love were the only words Selene could use to describe the way Naedia spoke about her son, and lucky for the young woman, that was what evaporated Selene's anger.

"He is, and he is going to prove it. To all of them." Selene had lifted the Krogen's head as she bowed at her feet and allowed her to lead her to her home at the camp. Selene had stayed with Naedia until Grunt came back a week later, just a few days shy of two months. The large Krogen had been angry that he had missed the two month mark, ranting how he would go do it again once he rested for a few days. He had successfully proven that he was a fearsome warrior and natural born survivor. His smaller hump did not hinder him or leave him at a disadvantage, but actually enabled him to move faster and more agile than any other Krogen.

The seven foot, three inch Krogen had turned around from the cheering and admiring faces of his people to meet the calm face of Selene. His smile had fallen as he looked upon her, her silver green eyes gleaming dangerously as her stoic face looked up at him. Selene chose to not berate him there, Grunt was given leave to go to the female camp and stay with Naedia and Selene, Kolyat had chosen to remain on the Normandy through the week of waiting for Grunt, but thought he would join them to help his "step-son" from suffering his mother's wrath alone.

Selene had been worried for the Krogen's life, but understood the cultural difference of the Krogen and had not only needed to accept them but embrace them as her own while being the surrogate mother of Grunt. She had been there for the birth of Aries, Titus and Athena, Grunt's two sons and little girl; all birthed from Naedia. She had helped with the performing of the Rite of Birth for each child and named them as well. Selene loved the children as her own family and was proud to be a part of it all.

Grunt had been home at Tuchanka for the last month, preparing Aries for his first battle lesson as his second Rite in life. Selene had given him the Normandy to come and go as he pleased so he, along with Joker had received the alert a week early and returned to the Citadel with the pilot to retrieve the members living there.

"Grunt. How are you _hijo? _How is Naedia and the children?" Selene asked as the large Krogen placed her back on the ground.

"Fine, fine. Aries took down his first varen four days ago. Bet there will be a pile of them when we get home." Grunt spoke proudly, a large grin plastered on his face.

Selene had made sure that Grunt would be there for his children and not just leave it to the females to raise his kids. She had received a lot of heat from many female Krogen for that, they ranted that she was pushing her alien ways onto their culture and only Krogen raised real soldiers. Selene had silenced them all in battle, taking on each and every one in hand-to-hand combat, earning her right to speak and defend her ideas. Wrex had looked on with approval and lifted the bullshit politics standing in the way of fathers not gaining the rite of parentage of their children. Of course it was hard to figure out who had fathered which children at first, females were shared just in hopes of a successful pregnancy. But it had been established so long as one of the men came forward that a female had been with to claim parentage of the children then he would be the father regardless. Mothers were still allowed to raise their children on their own if they chose and pass them later for training to the men, but many of the clans liked the new change and it brought even more people to Clan Urdnot and more and more Krogen were bonding as mates like before the genophage. Grunt and Naedia had known that from the beginning and Naedia had only allowed Grunt to mate with her once they met. Grunt had liked this, but did not know how he would be seen if he only mated with one female. Once Selene had knocked him upside the head a few times and got him to understand his feelings for the young Krogen female, his choice had been made and he had been happy ever since. He was a wonderful mate and amazing father to his children, each one would grow into strong warriors someday.

"I look forward to seeing it." Selene smiled, and then turned her eyes on Garrus and Thane on the second landing. "Are Jack and Victor on their way to the Normandy?"

"Yes. Kasumi and Jacob as well. Tali got the alert too, but needs to stay at the Flotilla for a few more weeks for Velia. Kal said he would come to the base immediately if you need him." Garrus informed her.

"No, tell him to stay. Tell both them we will all still be coming for Velia's birthday. We still have time for that and the Reaper's have fucked with my life enough, I'm not missing Velia's suit giving ceremony." Selene responded, moving up the stairs as she spoke.

Garrus nodded and flipped his omini tool open and sent the message to Kal. Thane was the only one who had noticed his son's slight twitch at Selene's words. If Thane had to explain to anyone why the couple had fallen apart, he would have blamed the Reapers for it and Selene's words had not been kind on Kolyat's memories.

"So everyone has everything? We are headed for the base and we won't be coming back for I don't know how long. You know your jobs and I need you all ready when we get there." Selene looked at her men in front of her, the feeling of them all being under her command and her squad again was strange after such a long period of time of being solo and seeing them in their normal lives.

Everyone checked their bags and guns, nodding their heads in confirmation. Selene's eyes scanned her home one last time, good and bad memories returning to her thoughts, her eyes landed on Kolyat's for a brief moment, his face an unreadable mask.

"Let's go." Selene breathed, turning for the door, leaving the memories back in the apartment as she assumed the role of a stone face Commander.

_**Please Review!**_


	5. Coming Home

**I'm really sorry about not updating for a while, I have been having medical problems, I had family over and writers block at the same time. It sucks!**

**Thank you for your reviews and I really hope I don't disappoint anyone with this chapter. This story will be taking a slightly darker turn with some situations and you see a bit of that in this chapter.**

**I hope you all like. **_**Please Review!**_

"Jake!" Selene called happily, throwing her arms around the biotic.

The Commander and her team had rushed to the docking bay area where they knew Joker would be waiting with the Normandy. Also waiting for them had been four people, Jack and her husband, Victor, were two fourths of that group.

Jack was wearing blue jeans and a plain black shirt under a comfortable looking black hoodie. Replacing her usual combat boots were comfortable walking shoes. Her hair was now very long and pulled back into a high pony tail at the top of her head, however, on either side of her head, about two inches of hair remained short and shaved showing off half of the halo of writing on her head. Selene had come to really like the biotic's new look, Jack still managed to keep her punk rock image, but had an air of maturity as well. The large, rounded bulge protruding from her belly also helped with her new more mature look.

If Selene had to pick anyone out of the old squad who had changed the most it would be Jack. After the Collector base, Jack continued to stay on with her, cutting a bloody, violent, biotic path through anyone Selene pointed her towards. However, her mood continued to slowly become less hostile toward the crew and people in general; there enemies in battle continued being on the receiving end of her power and temper but Jack was becoming comfortable with opening up and letting people in around her. A trip to Omega to seek a council with Aria and Patriarch had been the real turning point for Jack.

"_Whad a preddy girl li you doin all alone?" Jack turned to the man who had just spoken to her right, as he stepped from the shadows. His deep, smooth voice was thick with an accent that was strange to her ears and she had no way of describing it, maybe an eloquent slur, if that made sense._

_Her large brown eyes ran from his boots to his face, his very handsome face. He was dressed in black boots, black fitting pants that matched with his tight fitting black shirt under his charcoal color overcoat. His outfit reminded her of an old western cowboy from one of the vids Shepard showed the crew. His skin was lightly tanned, but not as much as Selene's but much darker than her own white completion. He was tall and had a nice build, strong and lean. His face was long and he had thick black hair that fell into his dark blue eyes. His lips were thin and outlined by a nicely trimmed goatee. He was giving her a cocky, but sexy smile as he walked slowly towards her with a grace and poise that not many in the club, let alone Omega, could achieve. _

_Jack's usual response would be to fuck off, but for some reason she allowed the man to lead her to a booth and buy her a drink. She was drawn to him for some reason, reasons she couldn't understand. _

"_So you gonna tell me you name?" The man now known as Victor asked her, leaning toward her with a charming smile and a devilish glint to his eyes. _

_Jack might have let this guy buy her a few drinks and listened to his smooth talking, but she wasn't stupid enough to give info on herself out, she was still a survivor and paranoid enough to be safe; epically with strange guys on Omega. So far all the drinks he had given her, she made him try them first, demonstrating how careful she really was._

_Jack ran her hand down the middle of her head, through the long portion of her hair, which was beginning to reach the nap of her neck, the sides still remained bare. "Eve." Eve, had been the first name Jack used when she busted out of the Teltin facility. The name had been given to her by the first group she ever ran with, shortly after killing them for screwing her over, she switched it to Jack. _

_Victor tilted his head slightly, his smile turning to a grin before speaking, "Now come on Chere, we bot know dat aint true. How bout sometin li….Jack." The powerful biotic's shock must have showed on her face, because Victor had thrown back his head in laughter before calming down and continuing, "Surprised Chere?"_

_Jack's teeth clenched as her right hand glowed blue before slamming down on the spot between his legs, "How do you know my name? No lies, or I'll blow your balls off." _

_Victor straightened in his seat as she leaned close to him, his blue eyes wondering to her glowing hand between his legs with a flicker of slight shock or mild concern. However, his grin returned as his eyes turned back to the suspicious woman. "You boss, Ms. Selene I believe. She de one who be callin you name when her an the drell leave Aria's meedin room."_

_Jack blinked and her hand absorbed the blue glow of her biotics as she remembered back to the day before, when Shepard had come out of the meeting with the asari and krogen with Kolyat at her side. Her eyes had briefly caught a glimpse of a man in the shadows, watching her as Selene and her descended the stairs, away from the area. She hadn't been able to see him at all, but he had definitely been wearing a long coat that reached down to his ankles. Victor must have been that man. _

"_That…that was you outside the meeting." Jack stared up at him with unsure eyes. _

_Victor took her hand that was still in a fist between his legs and grasped it lightly between his thumb and fingers, bringing it up to his lips to kiss her tattooed knuckles. "Yes Chere, it wa me. Aria request my presence afta her meedin wit you boss. Sometin bout needin a pilot." Victor spoke against her skin, sending a pleasant tingle down her whole arm. _

After that meeting Selene had found the two in Afterlife, shocked that they had happened upon each other. She informed Jack on the way back to the Normandy that Victor was going to be one of their new pilots on the dreadnought _Covenant_; Selene's dreadnought.

Victor's story was a sad one and probably what drew Jack in. For some reason, this Cajun's story was one of the sad ones she sympathized with.

Victor was a young boy living on Earth in Louisiana, out in the bayous with his father and two siblings when his father was gun down in their own home by robbers in the middle of the night. Victor was twelve years old. Victor had seen the two men kill his father in cold blood and threatened to kill his sister if Victor or his brother Rene tried anything funny. Victor and Rene watched helplessly as one of the men held their six year old sister by the throat, a wicked looking knife at her neck, and the other with the gun snatched anything of value the family had. Victor remembered the man with the gun moving to his mother's jewelry box, something his father never parted with after her death while giving birth to Jean, his baby sister. The man took everything, his father's old gold pocket watch that had been in the family for generations, his father's wedding ring he had left there early in the morning because he was going catfish hunting and his mother's wedding ring. The two masked men left the kids, laughing cruelly as they jumped in their car and sped away.

The week following his father's death Victor was in a daze, police officers storming the house, detectives speaking to him, his sister's screams and crying, the sympathetic looks from the neighbors as he wordlessly walked to the black car with his siblings that would take them away to their aunt Tara's house. When he finally regained awareness of his surroundings and what was happening, he was standing in front of his father's open casket, dressed in a gray suit, his usually messy hair combed neatly to the side as he looked down at his old man's face. Victor remembered feeling like he was only taking a nap, the look on his face so peaceful. His sister sniffing next to him drew his attention, her small form dressed in a black frilly dress, one tiny hand on the coffin. Her sky blue eyes were looking up at him, tears that hadn't stopped all week rolled down her white cheeks. Victor's eyes had followed the clear droplets as they rolled down to her neck where an angry red mark marred her soft white skin. A fire erupted in him that day. Victor had a hard life after that, breaking the rules at school, getting in with the wrong crowd, drinking, drugs, eventually dropping out of high school and soon after, landing himself in jail.

His brother Rene had to pay for his bail on more than one occasion and eventually tired of his older brother's bullshit, Rene took him to the nearest Alliance recruitment stationed and kicked his brother out of his truck.

"_You wanna be mad a tha world, fine! You go do sometin wit tha anger. Go figh. I be dar too wicha when I graduate." Rene's kind brown eyes looked at him from his driver's seat, through his open window, his sandy brown hair falling into his eyes as he gave his brother a smile just like their daddy's. _

_Victor looked back at the tall Alliance building, the Alliance symbol towered over him, then his eyes returned to his brother, "You tink I do good in de Alliance?"_

"_Broda, aint no one figh li you. You need sum discipline too. At leas dar." He pointed a long finger at the building behind Victor, "You be doin sum good an na waste you life." _

Victor went on to become a pilot, one of the best the Alliance had. Surprisingly he preferred flying over infantry and his younger, more level headed brother Rene became the foot solider, a great one Shepard found out after looking at his files.

Once Joker left the Alliance, Victor _was _theirbest pilot. Unfortunately for the Alliance, a bad job dealing with batarian slavers caused Victor to leave as well, and found himself on Omega in the service of Aria; lucky for Shepard, she found herself a capable pilot.

Victor was a sort of tortured soul himself, that's what Selene felt caused Jack to open up with the young Cajun and later, give her heart to him. Jack was now Mrs. Jack La Bauve, and six months pregnant.

When news of Jack's pregnancy reached Selene, the Commander wanted to be as ecstatic as everyone else seemed to be. However, Selene new a dark secret about the couple that prevented her from being as happy as she should have been when she heard that her friend was soon to be a mother.

As Selene wrapped her arms around Jack, careful to not push on her large protruding belly, her eyes caught the purple and red finger marks on the tattooless portion of the woman's shoulder. As Jack pulled away, her large smile faltered as she saw where Selene's somber eyes were looking and quickly yanked the shoulder of her jacket and baggy shirt back into place, covering the marks quickly before anyone else saw.

Selene said nothing and returned her eyes to Jack's, giving her a meaningful look before giving her a small, forced smile.

Grunt's booming voice and large arms trying to give the small pregnant human a careful hug broke the two woman's eye contact and allowed Selene to back way and collect herself as the boys greeted Jack. Kolyat's eyes shifted to her curiously, her discomfort and anger was blaringly obvious to him, however, no one else seemed to notice.

"How have you been Jack? How is the baby?" Garrus cooed as he placed a gloved claw on the expecting mother's stomach, bending down so he was on level with her bulge.

Garrus really loved babies.

Jack's lips broke into a smile only a mother could wear, but before she could answer Garrus' question, a strong hand on her shoulder landed right where Selene knew the red and purple finger marks were. Shepard's lips turned into a hard frown as Jack's eyes widened slightly and her body tensed a fraction. This time, Selene wasn't the only one to notice; Garrus, Thane and Kolyat all frowned at the subtle change.

"She is doin fine. Arnt you Chere?" Victor's Cajun accent spoke smoothly beside her as he tightened his grip on her shoulder, drawing her back into his tall, solid form; away from Garrus' touch.

"Yes, yes I'm doing great. And the baby is healthy and growing fast." Jack managed to get her sentence out calmly and keep a large smile on her face even with the slight pain she was receiving from Victor's touch.

"Yeah, I bet you are." Selene spoke in a calm, low voice that had an infliction of danger laced with it, her silver green eyes bore into Victor's dark blue ones.

Victor gave her a sly smirk as he tilted his head towards the Commander, "See you as same as eva Ms. Selene."

Selene and Victor had gotten into it a couple times on the ship, all in good fun of course, up until the day she witness him brutalizing Jack.

_Selene continued to laugh as she stumbled out of the cargo bay, her hand helped guide her as she felt the wall in order to get to the elevator. The Commander pushed the button to call the lift down, waiting patiently as she hummed a tune, her eyes half lidded as she swayed slightly from the drinks she had been having with the crew in the cargo bay; the loud cheers and laughter still echoed through the halls were she stood. _

_As the ding from the elevator sounded, Selene placed both hands on the frame of the door, one foot stepping in carefully. A crash and a muffled yell from the lower deck startled the drunken Commander, causing her to pivot on her foot and fall into the door way of the elevator, her back catching her and keeping her propped up. Silver green eyes narrowed in confusion as she held still, straining to hear for another sound. Another crash and a slew of yelling followed this time._

_Selene pushed off, more alert and walked carefully to the door in front of her, the metal swishing open as she approached. The yelling was clear now and so was the whimpering of a woman. It was coming from Jack's hiding hole. _

_Selene's jaw tightened as she listened and creep slowly down the stairs, her drunk state evaporated at this point. _

"_Wad I fuckin say bout dressin li that huh? You fuckin look li a whore up dar Jack! Flirtin and showin off you body li tha!" Victor's angry voice yelled, kicking another box over in a rage. _

_Selene was at the top of the second stairs now and could see the enraged Cajun's back as she stood towering over a quivering Jack. Selene's eyes damn near popped out of her head at the image of the biotic hugging herself in the corner, her head turned down as black webs of eyeliner ran down her cheeks. Jack never showed fear, never cowered from anyone and certainly never took shit from anyone. What the fuck was going on?_

"_I wore this when I first became a member of the team Victor. The crew is used to seeing me in it. And I swear I wasn't flirting with anyone. You know I only love you." Jack sounded so small, her shoulder length hair was flipped to one side, falling into her face as she stared up at Victor. _

"_Bullshit! You don wear tha anymore, you hear! And you don tink I see you talkin wit Ken or even my ow broda? Wha abo Garrus huh?" Jack's eyes shifted when he mentioned Garrus, Selene couldn't tell if it was from guilt or irritation at being yelled at. Victor seemed to jump on it however, regardless of what it might mean. _

_The crazed Cajun slammed his hands on either side of Jack's head, causing her to jerk her head up, startled. However, her mouth turned down in a scowl, her eyes hard now as she matched his glare. There was the Jack Selene knew. _

_Victor leaned close to her face, "Yea Garrus init? Righ? Righ?" Victor screamed as he slammed his hand into the wall, his own biotic abilities lighting his hands. "You fuckin li the turian. Fuckin wanna fuck him righ?"_

_Selene couldn't see the look on Victor's face but she could imagine it had to be terrible, his speech and his words were insane and sounded like he was a fucking psychopath. Something about this whole thing was horribly familiar to Selene. _

"_You know I only love you Victor, I'm your fucking wife! I don't want Ken, I don't want your brother and I don't want Garrus. All I want is my fucking husband back! Not the freak you have been turning into!" Jack screamed in his face, her hands pulsing blue at her side. _

_Then Victor did something that caused Selene to see red; he back handed Jack. _

_The small biotic's head turned sharply, spit and blood flew out of her mouth. Selene ran down the steps, her knife unsheathed as she grabbed a wide eyed Victor by his gray coat and brought her knee up into his lower back as hard as she could, causing him to fall on his knees in pain. Selene's knife bit into the side of Victor's neck. _

"_Give me one fucking reason to not cut your throat out right now?" Selene spat at him venomously._

_Victor didn't seem to listen, his glazed eyes were trained on Jack's bleeding face, "Jack? Chere? I…I'm… I don't…I didn't…" Victor couldn't form a coherent sentence. Even Selene could tell he couldn't believe what he had done, but it didn't matter, once anyone, man or woman laid a hand on their partner the way Victor just did, they could never take it back and never be trusted to not repeat it again. _

_Jack stared down at Victor in shock, then flicked her eyes up to Selene's, "Selene, let…let him go."_

"_Jack he just back handed you. You're really going to trust him after that?" Selene spoke in disbelief. _

"_He… he didn't mean to. He was angry and…and…" Jack's eyes switched from Victor's to Selene's rapidly._

"_And what! Smacked you. That makes it ok? Jack you have killed people for much, much, __**much **__less." Selene's eyes grew wide as she emphasized her words, her knife cutting into Victor's neck slightly. _

"_I love him Selene. He's my husband." Jack stared at her, her jaw tight and determination in her eyes._

_Selene's expression disbelievingly as she let go of Victor, her knife hanging limply at her side. Victor remained on his knees, crawling close to Jack and taking her into his arms, shaking as he buried his head in her stomach, repeating how he was sorry and he loved her. Jack's arms encircled him, but her eyes remained on Selene. _

"_He will do this again Jack. You're a grown woman and you make your own choices. I don't want to see you hurt but after this, once I walk out of here, I won't help you unless he hurts you in front of me or you ask for my help." Selene's voice was emotionless as she spoke to the biotic. _

"_I made my choice Shepard. You worry about the fighting and point me at who you want me to take down, but I don't want your advice in this." Jack's tone was rough and cold, just like she used to speak. _

"_I really hope he doesn't kill you." Shepard choked out, her memories taking her to her own father and how he killed her mother. Her eyes lowered to Victor's head, her knife came up and rested on his shoulder, the cold blade sending a chill down his spine, "Because if you do, I will fucking torture you, before killing you." Selene growled through her teeth. _

_Selene gave Jack a stern look before ascending the stairs, turning her back on the couple and everything that happened after that. _

Selene never witnessed Victor hit or even yell at Jack after their encounter down in the lower level of the ship. As far as Selene saw they were a happy couple who loved each other and found the peace they never got while growing up. However, signs of change started showing up with Jack, and Selene knew they were because of Victor and something that was forced upon the young woman.

It wasn't just Jack's demeanor either, which became more subdued and quiet, but Jack's wardrobe changed dramatically as well. Usually she would wear long sleeve shirts instead of the revealing tops she had been so fond of. Many of the crew just saw this as her growing up and welcomed the change. But when she started wearing skirts and dresses and hiding her tattoos with her omni tool, programmed to cover her tattoos, Selene knew Jack was being pushed to change her appearance.

Now Jack hardly had any of her tattoos, most were surgically removed shortly before she became pregnant. Selene had heard the conversation between Victor and his wife concerning her tattoos. Apparently they were, 'Not proper for a wife or mother'. Selene had come around the corner, making her presence known to the couple, giving Victor a cold look. The Cajun had become braver and more mean over the few months from the time she had caught him hit Jack and would now publicly scowl or smirk at Selene, gloatingly. He knew she wouldn't interfere now and took advantage of that, only making sure to not be rough with Jack in front of her or any of the other crew for that matter. But the signs were there.

The marks that were now on Jack's shoulder was one of those signs, one of the many. Selene had noticed over the two years that she knew Jack was being abused by her husband.

The tension between the two was diffused when the two other people who had been waiting for Selene's group walked over to join them.

"Hello Commander." spoke the timid voice of a tall turian stepping next to her.

Selene turned her icy glare away from Victor and turned a warming smile up at the turian in front of her, "Hello Sidonis, how have you been?"

Selene had tracked down Sidonis shortly after the destruction of the Collector base. The reformed man was held up in a dingy, small apartment. Garrus had looked around the one room living space and even his hardened expression softened into sympathy.

The Commander was in need of another tech expert and solid solider and Sidonis was in need of redemption. When Selene and Garrus arrived at the turian's home and found no one home Selene decided to come back another time and visit the next person on her list of people to see on the Citadel; Captain Bailey. Turned out that she found both the men she was looking for at C-sec. Sidonis had finally snapped and confessed to his crimes. However, since the crime was committed on Omega, the C-sec captain was at a loss at how he should handle the criminal. In true Shepard form, Selene came up with a solution that agreed with both parties. Sidonis came to work for Shepard on the Normandy during the two to three years she need a semi full squad and the turian proved to be very valuable.

Garrus eventually was able to truly forgive the man for his crime and helped him through his guilt and duties on the ship. Sidonis was still plagued with his survivors guilt but was slowly working through it and returning to a normal mental state. He was usually very timid around others and stuck to himself, only allowing Selene or Garrus to stay with him for longer than ten minutes, but he was nice to the crew and a hard worker so no one minded his antisocial behavior.

Standing behind the tall turian was Captain Bailey, her new head of base security. Bailey didn't need much convincing when Selene came to him five years ago, explaining the danger that was coming and rough outline of her plans on how to keep people safe.

"_This is one hell of a job you are taking on Commander." Bailey commented after listening to Selene for twenty minutes._

"_I'm a magnet for impossible odds." Selene grinned at him._

_Bailey grinned back before sticking his hand out, shacking the Commander's hardily "I'm in."_

"Hello Commander." Bailey greeted, his eyes shifting to Kolyat quickly, who was the furthest away from Selene, before returning to Selene's own silver green gaze.

"Captain." Selene nodded to him, not missing the weary look he had given between Kolyat and herself.

Captain Bailey had been kind to the couple over the years, giving Kolyat the job at C-sec once Selene could handle the preparations for the reapers on her own. Kolyat and the whole crew weren't needed really after two years, and so the Krios' had bought an apartment on the Citadel and played house for a while. Kolyat was approached by Bailey with a job offer in C-sec and took it happily, Selene eventually was needed more and more by varies allies or overseeing the building projects that were going on at the base, leaving Kolyat to his work on the Citadel. Unfortunately, Bailey had witnessed the slow decline of the couple's relationship and the self-destructive nature of Kolyat during all of it.

"So this is it huh?" Sidonis asked, shifting back and forth nervously. "Do we have any idea on how far out they are?"

"The estimate was a year or two. But that was three years ago, Mordin said there might be something he missed or didn't take into account. Could be sooner. The only thing he was sure of was two years is the maximum time limit we are working with." Selene answered.

"Two years. That doesn't even seem far enough away. How much have we even gotten done?" Jack asked, holding her stomach protectively.

Selene gave her a smile, "A lot more then you all saw two years ago, that's for sure. I think you guys are going to be impressed."

A shout from behind Selene caused the group to turn. "Yo! Are you all coming or what?"

Joker limped towards them looking like the last five years hadn't even touched him. Joker had the same scruffy brown beard, same cocky voice and still wore a cap on his head, the only thing different was the color of his uniform and hat.

Joker was wearing an all black, lightly armored vest with varies buckles and what looked like a hunting knife strapped to the chest. Under the vest was a tight black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, two parallel silver lines ran down both the sleeve of his arms. His pants were also lightly armored and black with the same silver lines running down the sides and on his feet were steel toe combat boots. His all black hat donned the same two silver stripes right down the center of it. Joker looked like he was ready for a fight.

"Hope you like the new uniforms." Selene commented as she walked over to meet Joker, a playful smile on her face at the shock her pilot was getting.

"How you doing Commander? Having a nice stroll on your way to the ship?" Joker's sarcasm greeted her as he turned to fall in step with the woman.

"Where's my ship Joker?" Selene ignored his comment as she led her team through the busy loading dock.

"Just up ahead Commander," Joker answered, pointing ahead of him.

As the group passed by all the large cargo ships they finally came to the clearing that revealed the Normandy. The familiar ship stood proud in front of them, the black, silver and white paint job the crew gave her after the collector base gleamed under the lights.

Jack gave a small smile up at the ship, whispering as the group in front of her continued toward the ship, "Just like coming home."

_**Please Review! **_**Hope Victor's accent didn't throw people off, my first time working with an accent. **


	6. Tension On The Normandy

**Hey!**

**Looks like I got this chapter out pretty quick and I hope you like it. Not much goes on but I am setting up for bigger things to come later on in the story. **

**Also, thank you for the reviews, though it seems some of you aren't feeling what I did with Jack and Victor. All I can say is, please trust me. I promise to not stray from the real couple you want to read about, Kolyat and Shepard, but I did want to do more with this story then I did with IDGAF. This story is just going to have more depth and focus on multiple characters but still the **_**main **_**focus will always be Shepard and Kolyat. **

_**Please review and tell me what you think **_

"ETA three days guys, I suggest settling in and kicking back. Lots to do at the base soon enough." Joker's voice could be heard all over the ship, in every room and every deck.

Garrus set his belongings down behind his bed, which was no longer the small cot he had to make sure not to move on. The Commander had made some changes to the Normandy, expanding rooms and adding some more to give some of her squad larger living spaces along with making improvements to the Normandy. Garrus was still held up in the forward battery but now the tiny room was about the size of Miranda's old office.

The large turian sat on the edge of the much wider bed, bouncing a bit, testing the give and firmness of the mattress.

"Hello Officer Vakarian." The sound of a familiar female disembodied voice startled Garrus, stopping his bouncing and causing him to slide off the edge a bit, holding himself up on his arms.

"EDI?" Garrus questioned lamely.

"No it's your mother." Joker's voice responded sarcastically.

Garrus grumbled a curse as he situated himself back on the bed.

"EDI wanted to tell you that if you lay flat on the bed, special sensor plates will adjust the comfort and elevation of it to the needs of your body." Joker informed him.

Garrus turned his head so he was looking down at the expanse of the bed. _Huh, that is handy. _

Garrus made himself comfortable on the white sheets, waiting for something to happen.

"Just relax Officer Vakarian." EDI informed him.

Once Garrus relaxed his muscles, clicks and hisses sounded from the bottom of the bed, his lower back dipping down slightly as his neck rose supporting his head and allowing him to turn his face to the ceiling without his fringe interfering. The mattress became less cushioning and more firm.

"Wow, this is amazing," Garrus grinned.

A light laugh at his door behind him gained his attention, "I see you have figured out about the beds too."

Garrus' blue eyes met Jack's brown ones, his head tilted awkwardly from his position on the bed. He gave her a pointy teeth smile of his own, "This is great, no more flimsy cots. I always hated those things. I could never move. Look at me." Garrus rose from the bed, stretching his arms out wide, "Do I look like a small guy to you?"

Jack shook her head in amusement, "I got to hand it to Shepard, she really knows how to take care of us."

"So are you still lurking in the lower levels?" Garrus walked the short distance to her, noticing a chair by a small round table in the corner and offering her the seat, which she took gratefully.

"I didn't lurk." Jack smirked at him, "Asshole." She added.

Garrus leaned on the wall opposite of her, "Stalking then?" Jack narrowed her eyes. "Alright." Garrus held up his hands, "Are you _living _down there still?"

Jack shook her head, "No. Shepard put me in the room across from the medical bay. For obvious reasons," Jack rubbed her belly.

Garrus' eyes softened as he looked at the mother's bulge, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. So how far along are you?"

Jack and Garrus continued to chat in his rooms pleasantly, unaware of the argument going on in the Commander's rooms above them.

"Wad you mean I gotta liv in separate rooms?" Victor complained loudly.

Selene stood in the center of her quarters, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared boredly at the angry Cajun. "All pilots will be on the CIC deck. On the Normandy and the Covenant. End of discussion."

"You can'd do dat! Jack is pregnant. She need me down wit er." Victor pointed to the Commander's doors.

"I really doubt that." Selene spoke softly in a dangerous tone.

Victor's mouth turned in a sneer as he scoffed at her, but said nothing, knowing what Selene was referring to.

"You will sleep in your room on the CIC and you won't complain about it. Jack will be sleeping on the crew deck, right across from the medical bay and between Thane and Kolyat's rooms. Garrus will also be across the hall in the forward battery. So, if you feel like beating your wife on my ship, you're going to have a hard time with it." Selene gave him a satisfied grin.

The Commander had planned the whole thing. She might have told Jack she wouldn't help unless called upon or seeing Victor's abuse, but she really couldn't help but interfere in her own sneaky way.

"Thad ain't none of you business Shepard. And I don beat my wife." Victor's eyes shifted at the end. He may not full on beat Jack to death but he was rough, controlling and demanding and he knew it, but it was none of the Commander's business. How he treated Jack was between her and himself.

Selene rolled her eyes, not caring what he wanted to call it and not interested in his excuses. "You can leave now Victor. Tell Joker he is off today, you will be taking his place."

Victor clenched and unclenched his hands at his side, his jaw tight as he glared at the Commander through his bangs. Then something she said ran through his memory, "Wade a minute, you say Kolyat be staying next to Jack? How come he get to stay on the crew deck?"

"You know Kolyat isn't just one of my pilots. He is also a squad leader and general. I need him ready near the conference room, which is _relocated _down in the _crew deck." _Selene emphasized her words and spoke slowly as if Victor was incapable of understanding, angering him more. "Now." Selene stepped closer to him tell she was standing an inch from him, "Get the fuck out of my damn room!" She yelled.

Victor clenched his teeth and gave her a final glare before turning for the doors behind him, leaving the Commander's cabin.

Selene inhaled through her nose and exhaled slowly, running her hands through her long hair as she lowered herself onto the black couch next to her. She was really tempted to just kick Victor off her ship and leave him somewhere, possibly Omega, or better yet, Tuchanka. He would make a nice meal for Urz or target practice for some krogen. Unfortunately, the man was skilled and already trained for flying her dreadnought, and she was sure Jack might actually leave with him if Selene kicked him out. At least if he was here he could actually help and Selene could keep a close watch on him.

Selene prayed for the day Jack would finally snap out of it and leave him herself, maybe even kill the bastard. Shepard had a feeling it wasn't a matter of _if _but _when _would the powerful biotic leave the pilot; hopefully before that baby was born. Something had to happen sooner or later, Selene just knew it, and that's what gave her comfort.

Selene stood from her seat and stretched before walking over to her desk and clicked her terminal on, reading through the two messages there, one from Kasumi and Jacob and the other from Miranda informing her they were on their way to the base. Selene nodded to herself and deleted the messages, switching to her private files. The Commander groaned out loud, the red font reminder on what to tell her generals stared back at her. Unfortunately for her, she had already informed Thane and Garrus and would have to speak to Kolyat alone.

"This day is just not going my way." The irritated woman seethed before pulling herself from the chair reluctantly and heading for the elevator.

* * *

><p>Thane handed Kolyat his small nap sack. The father had remembered to grab it from his son's room in their apartment before leaving to find him at Selene's apartment.<p>

The two men split ways down the hall, each having a room on either side of Jack's, who stepped out of her own and gave the older drell a smile as she walked down the long isle of sleep pods leading to the forward battery.

Thane pressed the holo interface on his door, letting him into his room. He no longer resided in life support, which was the room next to his and had been condensed to a quarter of its old size.

Thane gave a small smile to the spacious room, an actual bed in the corner was a welcoming sight. The room was quite bare, only a desk, a glass case, a small bookshelf already filled with books, and nightstand was all that decorated the room. Selene knew Thane liked little décor in his living space and kept the room as minimally furnished as possible and a pristine white and gray color scheme. However, the books were added on because the drell really did love to read.

The assassin set his two full heavy bags on his bed along with a smaller shoulder bag and began to unload his custom guns, cloths and few sentimental belongings.

In the room a door down from his own, his son was doing the same.

Kolyat had entered the room with his name and rank written neatly on it. His living space was much the same as his father's only furnished in blues, grays and blacks as he liked his color scheme. Selene would use to tease him that his favorite colors just so happened to be the colors he was. Looks like his ex-wife and Commander remembered and took in consideration his preferences.

Instead of books in the larger shelf on the opposite wall of his bed, there was a music box, weights, vids and free space to add whatever he wanted.

Kolyat set his stuff down and checked the holo remote on his night stand next to the clock. The drell tapped some keys and a large screen pulled out of the wall, turning on to Citadel news.

"Huh." Kolyat breathed, taking his clothes, guns and other belongings out as he watched the TV.

"C-sec Captain Armando Bailey quit the force today, giving no reason or warning to his fellow officers or superiors." A pretty human woman, probably mid-twenties, with short black hair and olive skin reported to the cameras outside of C-sec.

"Not even two hours and already I'm making the news." Bailey's gruff voice was heard behind Kolyat, causing the man to turn to his boss of three years.

Kolyat chuckled as he placed the brown nap sack his father had handed him and the black shoulder bag he had taken from Selene's apartment into one of the larger black bags before sliding the bag and the two empty ones to the corner. Kolyat pulled out a chair that was at his desk and placed it parallel with the bed, facing the TV, waving in Bailey. "Want to see what they have to say about you?"

As Bailey took the chair and Kolyat laid himself on his bed, propped against the wall, the two former C-sec officers watched the report on not only Bailey's resignation but Kolyat's random disappearance.

"Probably should send in my resignation huh?" Kolyat's voice trailed out to the hall from his open door where the tall Cajun stepping from the elevator could hear.

Victor glanced at Kolyat's open door, Bailey agreeing with the drell's question was heard as he stepped up to the door with his wife's name and job title on it. The already irritated pilot became more so when he found the room empty. Victor's brown boots banged on the ground as he walked to Kolyat's room, sticking his head in around the corner.

"Ay, you two seen Jack?" Victor questioned.

"Nah can't say I have." Bailey answered, turning his head to Kolyat.

"Actually, I saw her leave her rooms, it looked like she was headed for the main battery." The blue drell answered.

Victor tapped the side of the door lightly, really wanting to punch it and put a hole through the damn thing. His voice came out as smooth as ever though, "Tanks."

Kolyat nodded, turning his attention back on the screen and resuming his conversation with Bailey. Victor made his way down the hall to Garrus' room.

"Well we were thinking of Remy if it's a boy and Rochelle if it's a girl." Jack's voice reached Victor's ears through the closed doors.

"Remy? Rochelle? What kind of names are those?" Garrus laughed.

"Oh and Garrus is better?" Jack commented back.

"Garrus is a proper turian name thank you." Garrus held his head high.

"Well Remy and Rochelle are proper human names, French names. Victor picked them." Jack informed him.

"Oh, and do you like them?" Garrus questioned.

"I think what he picked is good." Jack shrugged.

Garrus turned his mouth down in a small turian frown, "If you could name the baby what would you pick?"

Before Jack could answer, Victor stepped through the door, his mouth an emotionless line as he stared down at the two at the round table. Garrus intended on turning his attention to the person behind him when he heard the doors open, but the look that had come over Jack's face distracted him. _She looks almost fearful_. _Jack doesn't get scared, _Garrus thought to himself disbelievingly.

It was only when Victor spoke that Garrus found out who had caused that look. "She li the names just fine Garrus."

An uncomfortable chill made its way up the turian's back, causing his plates to itch and shift. Garrus turned in his seat, facing the tall human as he spoke, "Victor." Garrus nodded to him, "I was just talking to your wife about when the baby is due and what names you have planned for him or her."

"I'm sure she li thad. But will you excuse us Garrus, Jack has to come wit me now." Victor leveled his eyes with Jack, leaving no room for argument in his expression or tone.

Garrus didn't like the Cajun's tone of voice or whole demeanor, he could smell the dominance and anger on the human.

Garrus stood at the same time Jack did, blocking her way to Victor, "Everything alright?" Garrus spoke carefully.

"Of course, jus wanna speak wit er." Victor responded, stepping closer to Garrus.

The plates on Garrus' neck shifted and he began to slowly grind his teeth, every bone in his body told him something wasn't right, his muscles tensed from the feeling.

Garrus hadn't seen Jack much in the three years the crew hadn't been together and he could never remember a time he had gotten this foreboding, ominous feeling from the woman's husband, but he was defiantly feeling it now. Garrus wanted to tell the man Jack wasn't going anywhere with him.

"Victor, didn't I tell you to relieve Joker of his duties?" Selene's strong, accented voice was a welcome to the turian's ears.

"I wa gonna go do dat as soon as I talk wit Jack Ms. Selene." Victor half turned to the short woman.

"No, you will do it now. That's an order!" Selene commanded.

Victor tried to look at Jack behind Garrus but the much larger turian blocked the small biotic from view even with Jack trying to peek around him. Then he turned his attention back to the Commander, "As you say, Commander." he saluted her before walking back to the elevator.

"You cool Garrus?" Selene asked, sensing something was wrong with her friend.

"Yeah Shepard, I'm good." Garrus answered in a deep low voice.

"Umm, I should go Garrus. Thanks for the talk." Jack spoke behind him, shuffling past him, almost running into Sidonis, who was making his way down the hall to Garrus' room.

The other turian gave a startled look as he watched Jack enter her room before continuing down the hall, a confused look on his face, "Something wrong?" He asked the pair standing in the doorway.

Selene shook her head saying no and excused herself, allowing Sidonis to enter Garrus' room, leaving both turian's, one confused and the other one very suspicious.

Selene paused out in the hall, staring at Kolyat's open door in disdain.

"_Meita." _Selene jumped at the sound of Thane's voice next to her, she hadn't noticed the older drell walking up to her.

"_Papé, _sorry I didn't notice you there." Selene rubbed the back of her neck as she gave a timid smile.

Thane's eyes landed where she had been staring, "Any particular reason why?"

Selene's smile dropped as she followed his gaze, "Unfortunately, I have to go in there and speak to the last person I want to on this damn ship."

Thane frowned at her answer, hoping she would have had a kinder more intimate reason for staring at his son's door. Thane thought about why she would _have _to speak with Kolyat, the answer came to him in seconds. "What team he will be assigned, and training to expect?" he answered his own unspoken question.

"Yes." Selene moaned irritably.

Thane placed his hands behind his back, "Well don't let me get in your way Commander." Thane bowed and went off to the kitchen area, leaving her alone to do her job.

Selene took a breath and let it out before slowly walking to the open door.

Kolyat was laughing on his bed, one arm under his head and the other lay on his stomach. His long legs were crossed at the ankle on the bed as him and Bailey watched the Citadel news. On the screen was what appeared to be a drunken Volus, splashing around in of the fountains on the Presidium, two C-sec officers were trying to convince him to come back on to the walkway.

Selene knocked on the door frame, drawing the attention of the two men, noticing Kolyat's smile falling immediately. "Sorry to interrupt, but Bailey, I need to speak with Kolyat for a moment."

Bailey's eyes shifted between the two uneasily before standing from his seat, giving Selene a nod and a smile before leaving, joining Thane in the mess.

Kolyat tapped the keys on his remote, turning the TV off as he placed his legs on the floor, staring at Selene soberly. Selene stepped further into the room, shutting the door behind her.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them. Kolyat's eyes were shifting around the room while Selene burned a whole in the wall behind him as she stared at it. Every time Selene came in contact with Kolyat her temper flared dangerously, the woman held a lot of anger and bitterness in her heart, but as her silver green eyes slid from the wall to her ex-husband's turned head, she knew she had to play nice and find a way to work with him. Too much was riding on the teams success for Kolyat and her to be fighting each other.

"Kolyat, look at me." Selene's voice sounded tired, but it was better than the snarl she had been using with him earlier.

Kolyat lifted his black eyes to her silver green ones, his face emotionless.

"We can't be acting this way throughout the entire war. Both our roles are way too important and we have too many lives on the line."

Kolyat stared at her wordlessly for a few moments, studying her face and taking in her words. She was right and he knew it. The tall drell stood from his bed and took two steps closer to the Commander before speaking, "You're right." He nodded his head, "This may be awkward and frustrating being around each other, but you're right, our jobs are too important."

Now it was Selene's turn to study his expression and weigh the sincerity of his words. She was convinced he was serious. "Good. Come on, I need to show you the new conference room and go over some stuff." Selene jerked her head to his door and walk out.

Kolyat watched her back as she walked out in front of him, he took a second to take a deep breath and let it out, clearing his head and thoughts. _Play nice, play nice, play nice, _he chanted to himself in his head as he walked out.

**Do you guys think they can play nice? **_**Please Review**_


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